


With the Goo

by yourcoffeegal



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: F/M, Post-Apotheosis, TW: Panic Attacks, no one's infected
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22183588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourcoffeegal/pseuds/yourcoffeegal
Summary: The apotheosis left Emma traumatized and having a scientist as a dad doesn't always help. Luckily for her, Paul's always ready to help. And boy does he do a good job.
Relationships: Henry Hidgens & Emma Perkins, Henry Hidgens & Paul Matthews, Paul Matthews & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	With the Goo

**Author's Note:**

> Not proofreading bb!! Also not trying to romanticize panic attacks, mostly just projecting. TW: Panic attacks

Emma was at Hidgens' house for their weekly father-daughter dinner. Ever since PEIP cured everyone of the apotheosis, they made an effort to connect with each other. Everyone had, really. It was pretty much the only thing that kept Emma in Hatchetfield. 

"You didn't drive, did you? Is Paul picking you up or do you want me to drive you?"

"Paul's picking me up. He should be here in about an hour."

"Brilliant! Well, I have an experiment I've been wanting to work on. I'll be in the lab. Feel free to join me if you want."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Emma would always take an opportunity to spend more time with her family. She had gone from having no one to feeling like the most loved human in the entire world.

While Emma was lost in thought, Hidgens had picked up a syringe and a container of viles. Worried she would start thinking negatively if she thought too much, he asked, "Emma dear, would you run ahead and get some copper sulfate ready?"

"Yup!" Emma may have started studying science with the dream of starting a pot farm, but with a little bit of guidance from Hidgens, she quickly fell in love with it. Doing simple experiments like these gave her something to focus on and a mindless task to do, with a cool result. They made her feel accomplished while simultaneously putting in minimal effort.

Hidgens entered with the syringe and viles full of a clear liquid.

"I had to put the ammonia in viles because I didn't want to wash the bigger containers," he giggled. "And now instead of making one big solution we can make a bunch of little ones!"

"Hidgens, have you been taking care of yourself?" Emma asked earnestly.

"Yes, Emma. I just did a really big experiment before you got here and haven't had time."

"Oh, well, I could wash them for you."

"No, Emma. I only get to spend so much time with you outside of class because you're such a successful little busy bee and I don't want to waste it washing containers."

"I'd hardly call Beanies successful. But, hey, your fault for doing the big experiment without me."  
  
"Oh, Emma. Let's just do this one now, yeah?"

"Yeah."

While Hidgens fiddled with the syringe and filled it with copper sulfate, Emma looked around the lab. She had never felt more at home in a place that wasn't her home. Backpacking in Guatemala for a good chunk of her life, Emma was comfortable in pretty much any space, but she was used to them all being temporary. Not the lab. The lab felt like home. Hidgens felt like home. She spotted a tall glass container on the other side of the room.

"Hidgens! I found a clean big container!"

"Splendid, because this reaction doesn't look nearly as cool as I wanted it to in the viles."  
  
Having grabbed the container, she turned around to look at the viles, but stopped in her tracks like a deer in the headlights, dropping the container. Hidgens was facing her, holding a syringe in one hand and a vile full of bright blue liquid in the other. Thousands of painful memories came flooding back to Emma, and she couldn't think straight. She dropped the container, and felt a pang of what she deemed realization at seeing Hidgens' confused expression.

"No. No no no no no no no! Not again! It can't be happening again! Hidgens don't hurt me! Please! It's Emma!"

An equally painful wave of realization washed over Hidgens as he realized what the situation looked like.

"Please don't hurt me again! There's broken glass on the floor! So, uh, you don't want to come near me!" She was clearly trying to speak rationally, but it was hard when her breathing was rapid and uneven and she thought one of the only people she fully trusted had turned on her again.

Hidgens tried to speak as calmly as possible, taking special care to sound neither like he was about to break into song or like the monotonous robotics of the hive. "Emma, please listen carefully. It's Hidgens. I'm not infected. You're safe. Don't move. You're not thinking straight and I don't want you to hurt yourself with the glass."

But in her hectic state Emma only felt threatened. "Please, please, no!" Her eyes were screwed shut, and in her debate between whether to resist authority or keep begging, which had kept her alive, the only sounds that could be made out coming from her where the screams and cries of someone who knew she would be forced to watch everyone she loved die multiple times.

Hidgens quietly backed out of the room, hoping Emma would come to her senses if his presence wasn't nearby. Emma trusted Hidgens, but she had been hurt by him before. There was but one person who Emma trusted just as much, and Hidgens grabbed his phone and dialed Paul.

"Hey Hidgens, is everything okay?"

"Not exactly. Where are you?"

"I just got in the car, I'm about to head over."

"Hurry over, son. I think our dear Emma could use you right now."

"Why, what happened?"

"Paul, focus on driving. I'll tell you when you get here. Emma doesn't need more bad memories on her mind right now."

So Paul, intensely worried and muttering a constant mantra of "Okay," found himself running into Hidgens' house out of breath.

"Where is she? What's wrong?"

"In the lab. She's having a panic attack. She's convinced the apotheosis is back and I'm infected. I haven't gone in since it started but I've had my ear by the door and her crying has slowed down."  
  


Paul called out a quick, "Thanks, Hidgens," and ran to the lab as quick as possible. If there was one person he felt deserved all the happiness in the world it was Emma. 

When he entered the lab he saw Emma, with eyes closed, shaking, surrounded by broken glass, making blubbering noises but sounding like she ran out of tears to cry. Worried especially by her shaking near broken glass with a leg that was prone to give out at any given time, he instinctively picked her up and moved her slightly away from the danger.

Unfortunately for both of them, Emma hadn't been aware of Paul's presence and remembered her worst incident with Hidgens yet again. "No! Please!" her cries started up again.

"No, it's Paul. You're okay."

"Paul! They got you, too!" She let out a wail, calling out to Paul's soul rather than his supposed body.

"No, no! Sweetie, it's Paul. There's no singing. There's no music. Can you listen to my voice baby? Its just talking. You're okay. I'm here. It's just Paul."

Although still not having a full grasp on her surroundings, Emma's cries calmed down again at the sound of Paul's voice. He started to rock her, taking care to not be too rhythmic or too spontaneous. "I love you." Unable to bear the sight of the love of his life in pain, he kissed her forehead.

"Paul?" Her voice was as small as a mouse, but it was all Paul could focus on.

"Yeah, baby." Emma pushed herself even farther against him, and nuzzled her head into his chest.

"Do you wanna go home, honey?"

Emma nodded, and Paul slowly carried her away from the scene of the crime to the car where Emma promptly fell asleep, exhausted by her panic.

When she woke up, Hidgens would call and apologize profusely, causing all three of them to deal with the repercussions of the day and the memories it brought on, but until then Emma was safe. And that was all any of them needed.


End file.
